Paul Sutton @zleap@qoto.org

Seriously though: I want (okay, demand) a version of Firefox with the "AI chatbot" functionality removed. Not disabled. Removed. I want all code which is specifically designed to connect to OpenAI removed from my computer completely. I do not care if the vampires have promised not to suck my blood. I do not want the vampires in my house in the first place. https://mk.nyaa.place/notes/9xvolkux40ok0n1m

AI integrations that nobody asked for will continue until morale improves. #firefox

Another case where the solution is SM & CU membership. That would benefit everyone, not just touring musicians. #brexit

UK music industry presses government to solve post-Brexit limits on touring
https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/sep/08/uk-music-industry-presses-government-to-solve-post-brexit-limits-on-touring?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

We're so fucked.

"Our analysis of a selection of questionable GPT-fabricated scientific papers found in Google Scholar shows that many are about applied, often controversial topics susceptible to disinformation: the environment, health, and computing. The resulting enhanced potential for malicious manipulation of society’s evidence base, particularly in politically divisive domains, is a growing concern."

https://misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu/article/gpt-fabricated-scientific-papers-on-google-scholar-key-features-spread-and-implications-for-preempting-evidence-manipulation/

https://www.europesays.com/1458715/ Lazy Sunday – Put the kettle on, stick some bread in the toaster and share with us your plans for today. #CasualUK #UnitedKingdom

Russell Wilson Not Expected to Play in Steelers Season Opener vs Falcons: Report https://www.newsweek.com/sports/nfl/russell-wilson-not-expected-play-steelers-season-opener-vs-falcons-report-1950282?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

Person in Missouri caught H5 bird flu without animal contact https://arstechnica.com/?p=2048150 #science

Data center water consumption is spiraling out of control

Energy usage might be front of mind amid the AI era, but surging data center water consumption is raising serious concerns among industry stakeholders.

Don't worry about data center water use, they said. It's nothing.

Don't worry about data center energy use, they said. It's nothing.

https://www.itpro.com/infrastructure/data-centres/data-center-water-consumption-is-spiraling-out-of-control

#Jenin, West Bank

A dog stands on a street that was torn up by bulldozers during an Israeli raid in the centre of Jenin in the occupied West Bank.

Photograph: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty

@palestine
#WestBank

[1/2] https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/aug/29/peter-hendy-ex-network-rail-chair-threatened-firm-engineer-euston-criticism
https://stallman.org/archives/2023-nov-feb.html#21_January_2024_(Boeing_defects)

The UK's railroad minister, in his previous job, threatened to deny contracts arbitrarily to an engineering company unless it bullied a worker into ceasing to raise safety concerns. In response, the company fired him. I am not competent to judge the validity of those …

Others have said this, but the Internet Archive's appeals-court loss to Big Publishing is a disaster for everyone but the cartel of companies and a tiny number of A list authors.

The publishers will tolerate libraries only as long as they can control everything about how books can be loaned. If public libraries were being invented today, the cartel would make their core functions illegal.

https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/4/24235958/internet-archive-loses-appeal-ebook-lending

So at some point I want to make a personal website for my academic career; who am I, where did I study, where do I work right now, what do I research, how do you get in touch with me, etc.

BUT I refuse to faff about any tools or platforms for making websites, or doing any fancy stuff whatsoever; I'm gonna code this website by hand out of HTML and CSS, and it will consist of nothing more than static text, images, links, and formatting. I refuse to "build it beautiful", blech.

This is all well and good, but I'm worried about HTTPS. My browser refuses to connect to any non-HTTPS website, and clearly I'm going to have to make it happen on my website, but unlike composing the site and getting it hosted, I have no idea what's involved in getting my website certified (as evident from the fact I don't even have the vocabulary to properly articulate what I'm talking about).

Can anyone enlighten me? Thanks. (Boosts appreciated.)

#AskFedi #Webdev #https

New Publication at the Open Journal of Astrophysics: "The future of cosmological likelihood-based inference: accelerated high-dimensional parameter estimation and model comparison" by Davide Piras (Université de Genève), Alicja Polanska (MSSL) , Alessio Spurio Mancini (Royal Holloway, London), Matthew A. Price(UCL) & Jason D. McEwen (UCL)

https://astro.theoj.org/article/123368-the-future-of-cosmological-likelihood-based-inference-accelerated-high-dimensional-parameter-estimation-and-model-comparison

This sounds like a nice idea in principle, but I'll believe that water company bosses can go to jail when I see it.

Maybe they should concentrate on enforcing existing laws before coming up with new ones that they also won't enforce?

#WaterPollution #ShitInRivers #ShitOnBeaches

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwy5dwlwkwro

An emphasis from @iceadvice on #climate #TippingPoints: 5 of them appear in the Polar regions.

#EPSW24

Why are journalists -I think mainly American ones- reporting judge Alexandre de Moraes as being in a feud with Elon Musk, when issuing court orders. That's not a feud but a just doing his job in the face of a recalcitrant defendant, surely? Why is it a feud?

DIY, pirated medicine is becoming increasingly accessible and easier to make due to automation, new tech, and new software developed and released by Four Thieves Vinegar Collective:

https://www.404media.co/right-to-repair-for-your-body-the-rise-of-diy-pirated-medicine/